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There is another DVD of 'Fedora' starring Mirella Freni and Plácido Domingo and I think it was made within a year or two -- in the mid-1990s -- of this one; that one was at the Met and was conducted by Claudio Abbado. This one is a live performance at La Scala Milan and is conducted by the 82-year-old Gianandrea Gavazzeni, an acknowledged master in this repertoire. I've not seen the Met DVD and cannot make a direct comparison of the two versions. But I can say that I watched this one with great interest and found myself drawn into the highly melodramatic goings-on of Fedora and her lover Loris Ipanov, which requires a fair suspension of disbelief. Freni plays the haunted Fedora with passion and verisimilitude. It is unfortunate that there is no great soprano aria in the opera, or at least nothing to compare with Loris's 'Amor ti vieta' in Act II. Domingo gets a huge ovation at the end of the aria, enough that the stage action simply can't go on for quite a long time. And for good reason -- it's a spectacular performance.

Still, the show is Freni's. She is very much the passionate verismo heroine and she brings out every nuance of the part. Her voice is in fairly good estate; her high notes are intact, and thrilling, but the low voice has become just a bit thready.

One novelty in this opera is the Chopinesque étude Giordano wrote for the 'nephew of Chopin' to play in Act II. It does indeed sound like Chopin and is played well by Arnold Bosman as 'Boleslao Lazinski'. But in the Met DVD Lazinski is played by Jean-Yves Thibaudet! (I wonder if he wore his trademark red socks?)

The stage decor is beautiful and traditional. The designer, Luisa Spinatelli, clearly had great fun designing three completely different scenes.Read more ›

Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)

love this opera. I wish that the soprano had a great, big aria but she does have a few smaller ones that are ok.

Mirella Freni is so close to my heart that I never could say anything bad about her. She seems to have found the fountain of youth, singing grandly, if without the high C in the duet that closes act II (she sang it on the pirate recording from La Scala). Who cares when she does everything so well.

I heard her in the role (live) at Washington DC opera back in '98. I've heard Jane Eaglen in Seattle several times and, unless the size of the house is part of it, Mirella Freni has no smaller voice than Eaglen. Freni is truly a spinto-dramatic soprano. Thankfully, she moved slowly from lighter roles to some of the heaviest dramatic Italian roles. She is less at home in this production than in Washington. Domingo (who gives and astonishing, wonderful performance) is more at home in this production than in Washington. I love Arteta and Croft. This is meaty stuff with Mirella Freni getting a 17 minute ovation, audience having banners for her and getting a "key to New York" from the Mayor. Enjoy!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

Domingo, what else but perfect!Dec 31 2004

By
OperaOnline.us
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: DVD

Once again Deutsche Grammophon and the Met have supplied us with not just a good performance but a great one in the nature of Umberto Giordano's "Fedora" - not an opera you see much these days but one that is well worth the price of the DVD. It seems that Deutsche Grammaphon and the Met are setting the bar for how all opera DVD's should be released: they always have an all star cast, the stage direction and scenery is wonderful and the orchestra is always working hand-in-hand with the singers (I know some of this can be manipulated in the engineering of the disc but it still works wonderfully). The cast of Placido Domingo as Loris, Mirella Freni as Fedora, Dwayne Croft as De Siriex and Olga Sukarew as Ainhow Arteta were outstanding. They all maintained great voice throughout the performance and supplied as great acting as well. The costumes and set design were all period pieces and done well. Mr. Domingo's Act II Amor ti Vieta was in typical Domingo fashion - flawless, heartfelt and classy. As I have mentioned before his voice is an instrument we may not see the likes of for a very long time. Ms. Freni simply owned the stage when she was on it and was warmly received by a long ovation once she made her appearance. We were also treated to Jean-Yves Thibaudet giving us an Act II piano solo that was wonderful.

Overall the entire performance from beginning to the final bows was exceptional. Clocking in at 108 minutes this is a perfect performance to and watch without feeling as if you need to commit an entire evening. It also allows you to listen in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 or PCM Stereo. You can only rave so much about a near-perfect DVD, and so I will end with what has been stated. It's a great buy. JG

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

Superb!Jan. 8 2005

By
G. Stefan Lazar
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: DVD
Verified Purchase

This is not a classic opera, for sure -- but BUY THIS for the singing. I can't find anything to nitpick at and that's unusual for me. The singing, production, direction, conducting all seem to be right on the mark. Domingo and Freni have always been 2 of my favorite singers but here we have preserved what in my view is the performance of a lifetime. It all seems so real. Their scene in the last part of Acts 2 & 3 are worth the price of the DVD alone.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

A Role Made for FreniNov. 18 2006

By
J Scott Morrison
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: DVD

There is another DVD of 'Fedora' starring Mirella Freni and Plácido Domingo and I think it was made within a year or two -- in the mid-1990s -- of this one; that one was at the Met and was conducted by Roberto Abbado. This one is a live performance at La Scala Milan and is conducted by the 82-year-old Gianandrea Gavazzeni, an acknowledged master in this repertoire. I've not seen the Met DVD and cannot make a direct comparison of the two versions. But I can say that I watched this one with great interest and found myself drawn into the highly melodramatic goings-on of Fedora and her lover Loris Ipanov, which requires a fair suspension of disbelief. Freni plays the haunted Fedora with passion and verisimilitude. It is unfortunate that there is no great soprano aria in the opera, or at least nothing to compare with Loris's 'Amor ti vieta' in Act II. Domingo gets a huge ovation at the end of the aria, enough that the stage action simply can't go on for quite a long time. And for good reason -- it's a spectacular performance.

Still, the show is Freni's. She is very much the passionate verismo heroine and she brings out every nuance of the part. Her voice is in fairly good estate; her high notes are intact, and thrilling, but the low voice has become just a bit thready.

One novelty in this opera is the Chopinesque étude Giordano wrote for the 'nephew of Chopin' to play in Act II. It does indeed sound like Chopin and is played well by Arnold Bosman as 'Boleslao Lazinski'. But in the Met DVD Lazinski is played by Jean-Yves Thibaudet! (I wonder if he wore his trademark red socks?)

The stage decor is beautiful and traditional. The designer, Luisa Spinatelli, clearly had great fun designing three completely different scenes. Act I takes place in a Russian salon, Act II in a Paris salon, and Act II at a mountain-side villa in Switzerland. In each case the scene begins with a back-projection of architectural scenes that tell us the setting (e.g., buildings along the banks of the Neva in St. Petersburg in Act I). Stage direction is also traditional; no Konzept issues here!

Alessandro Corbelli is very good as De Siriex, Adelina Scarabelli a bit less so as Olga. The other minor characters are unexceptionable. Orchestral accompaniment is excellent. (I was particularly struck by the fine horn section, especially in the alpine scene.)

'Fedora' is not a great opera musically, even though Giordano is a talented scene painter, but it is dramatically effective one that deserves reviving from time to time, particularly for a dramatically compelling singing actress of the quality of Mirella Freni.

Scott Morrison

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

Will we see their likes again?June 12 2005

By
Richard
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: DVD
Verified Purchase

You can tell here that Giordano was still stuck in the old way of making opera, thank God. This is Mirella's feast and she makes the most of it. But Placy does upstage her. He's got the better aria - and the crowd goes on and on and on. Traditional MET production, but it looks pretty expensive - no cheap job. I wouldn't say that Fedora will ever replace Andrea Chenier - but it is worth a look from time to time - now with such a good production. The only studio CD was a squaller with Magda Olivera and Mario del Monaco. His shouting was just too much to take. And while she isn't usually a shouter I think she felt she better belt it out to keep up with him. None of that here - just two great singers having it out.